Well in my personal opinion.....I think it tastes like a stick of pure butter. I have made it a couple of times now just to see if it was me making a mess up, or just the recipe. The texture was wonderful but I could not take such a intense butter flavor & (I LOVE BUTTER) But wow....My family member as well, they said it was tasty but strong and it would not be a personal choice of theres. Hope that helps you some. 
If you don't like the buttery taste, do 1/2 & 1/2 - butter/shortening. It'll still taste good, less buttery and hold up better in heat because of the melting point. You didn't say what the recipe was but I am assuming it's an Italian BC, which is what I've seen him make.
he uses egg whites, but powdered sugar.. no syrup. i had seen him do it once on food tv, but did not catch the exact recipe .. sorry.
I don't have the exact measurements handy, but basically it is whipping 10 egg whites with granulated sugar and then blending with 2 1/2 pounds of butter.
The only thing that was wierd was that they say you should heat it up when using...
if you need the exact recipe, I will post it later....thanks!
No Adven68, I can tell you exactly what it is. It's 1/2/3....that is one part whites, two parts sugar, three parts fat. You have to heat the whites and sugar in a double broiler until the sugar melts, being careful not to scramble your eggs. Whip the egg/sugar mixture with a hand whip during the heating process. Once the sugar melts, (put your finger in it, you can feel the granuals gone) put it on your mixer and whip until the mixture cools and comes to stiff peaks. Then you add in your fat to it. Make sure there is not one drop of fat in the egg mixture until you've gotten to the last step or it will not set up.
P.S.: You can probably do it without heating the whites/sugar mixture but the granuals won't melt and it's not a good consistency.
I think the recipe is over on food.com. It's listed as a French buttercream but it really isn't. I've seen him make it. It's a standard Italian Meringue buttercream, which is the best.
Make sure you use a good unsalted butter or it will be ruined. Do not use anything else. Also, use a very good vanilla.
Its best served at room temperature or it will taste like nothing but butter.
Here is the link:
Recipe courtesy Duff Goldman, Charm City Cakes, Baltimore Maryland
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_32891,00.html
His recipe is different in that he did NOT cook the eggwhites or make a syrup. It was simply egg whites. It saves a step, but it would be highly recommended you use pasteurized egg whites.
When he made it on the show he said "the sugar cooks the eggwhites" which isn't exactly true. But if you used pasteurized whites, it would be safe.
Does anyone ever think Food TV will have a contest where Duff actually wins? He is talented, and somewhat entertaining to watch, but never seems to "get serious enough" to win any of the contests! Just once I would like to see him take top honors!
deb
Ya know....I thought of that too. He's so busy playing with the toys he bought at Home Depot and getting into rigging his cakes than to be serious enough about it. Who knows.
I was really thinking of the same thing because once Collette won the last one she wasn't in the next and then Mike won. Even though I thought Mike deserved to win the sports challenge for the matador. Anyway, I think Mike is way talented. Some of the others not so much, like the Cake Diva. No offense, but I think she bites and is sloppy.
There are a lot of extremely talented people out there. I hope to keep improving and be that good when I grow up. 
I was really thinking of the same thing because once Collette won the last one she wasn't in the next and then Mike won. Even though I thought Mike deserved to win the sports challenge for the matador. Anyway, I think Mike is way talented. Some of the others no so much, like the Cake Diva. No offense, but I think she bites and is sloppy.
I agree! Don't get me wrong, I love Collette's cakes, but it was like everything else she does - Mike's matador was incredible!!!
I hope to be as talented one day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok...so I'm so glad I'm not the only one who thinks that. Don't get me wrong, ya gotta respect the woman's work but she's become very predictable to an extent. I think you can almost pick her work out from others because there are certain aspects that she always does in her cakes. 
I think the name of Mike's site and shop are so appropriate.
On another note, I think those cakes at the Oklahoma cake show are classy and so detailed themselves. Maybe they should get a few contestants from there for the next challenge.
I agree too. Colette is great, but she needs to have a variety of different looks, like in her earlier books. I have a short attention span!
What bothers me most is no one focuses on taste at all. It all seems to be for entertainment, and less for taste. 
I read somewhere else that the foodnetwork is targeting males, ages 15-35 as their prime market, and literally said they don't want chefs. They want entertainers. That's why Sara Mouton got the boot.
WHAT! That's just wrong! However, I can believe it. I'm a pastry chef and let me tell you, there's not enough respect for women out there. Plus (no offese to the males) men already are very competitive and if you can imagine, they are cut-throat and feel threatened by women in the culinary field. I hear the French scoff at female chefs too. But hey, most men learn from their Mamma's anyway right!
I can see the entertainer part because you have to capture the audience. I'm sorry to hear about Sara though because I liked her show. Love Ms. Paula Dean though, she's a trip!
P.S. Sorry to get off subject of the topic but back to Duff, is he the one they always show on the previews with the red cake swaying back and forth? It goes by so quick I could never figure if that's him or not. But yes, I've seen him lose his cakes before. He is entertaining however.
I never even thought of it like that really. More like they got a new VP that thinks this will increase their ratings.
Which still doesn't explain why Sandra Lee got another two years. Of course it is the most amusing show on there, just to see what the woman does. The best show was her boxed cake mix and canned frosting for a wedding cake, with grapes on top. I smile just thinking about that one! 
FYI - Duff is short and shaves his head. He has a round face. Edit, here's a pic:
http://www.citypaper.com/sb/73974/highSmalltimore.jpg
I've seen Duff but there's a clip that comes on the food network where there's a guy with a red cake which is swaying back and forth. The people watching the tv are looking at it sideways sorta. I was wondering if that was him. Probably is.
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